Sunday, September 30, 2007
A/N This one is a bit shorter then the I would normally write, but hey it works right? Enjoy it!
(Chapter 2 : Stalking the Prey)
The next morning Shuichi awoke to the sun shinning in through the windows of his cabin. Sitting up and stretching his tired muscles he couldn't wait to get started. Fujisaki, Hiro, and Shuichi stayed up late in the night discussing their plan of action. It might sound a tad cowardly but hey! They were one against five any tactic to get his booty and excitement was o.k. with Shuichi; as long as there were no unnecessary casualties. He didn't like to waste human life; not that he didn't already have blood on his hands, but he preferred to keep it to a minimum.
After cleaning up and getting dressed Captain Shu exited his cabin and took the stairs to the helm two at a time. Upon reaching the top he witnesses his first mate and accountant arguing over something that didn't even really matter, in Shu's opinion. Walking up to his friends he laid a hand on each of their shoulders and smiled up at them brightly. "Good morning, you two! Now what is the problem?"
Fujisaki opened his mouth, but Hiro cut him off. "It seems that the NG ships we are scheduled to take this afternoon are very heavily armed." Glaring at the small green haired man Hiro was hoping against hope that upon hearing this Shuichi would abandon the plan and go with the alternative. To his dismay Shuichi just continued to smile.
"That's no big deal! I only plan on taking one ship any way. I would rather not spread my crew too thin you know. I'm not completely stupid." At that last phrase Fujisaki snorted and held back a giggle.
"That's not the only problem. The flagship is carrying Seguchi himself." Hiro was on the verge of begging his captain to rethink this.
Shuichi frowned a little and took his hands off their shoulders. Stepping over to the helm he leaned on it. "Hm… that is indeed interesting. Seguchi-san never accompanies his ships unless it's a really, really big haul." Shuichi turned back to his first mate and manager with a wide grin on his face. "This is going to be a really good day."
Both Hiro and Fujisaki gaped at their captain as they watched him skip down the stairs to greet the rest of the crew in the early morning.
Fujisaki addressed Hiro even though he was still watching his strange captain. "Do you think he has a death wish?"
Hiro snapped his head to look at Fujisaki and glared at him. "This was your idea!"
The manager turned slowly toward his companion and replied, "I never thought he would actually go for it. I mean its complete suicide. I know it will work, but only if you are stark raving mad."
Hiro turned back to watch his captain get tackled by Ryuichi and Kuma-chan, "Well Shu definitely is plenty of that." Shaking his head he turned back to the helm and began to adjust the coordinates.
Eiri awoke with a feeling of dread. It was the kind of dread that said, "Look out your life will change forever today" and he didn't like it one bit. After cleaning himself up he walked up on deck. Looking around he saw the same weary look reflected on every single crew member's face.
Tohma was directing some cabin boys and Mika was lecturing some crew men on how to handle the delicate merchandise. Tatsuha was staring off in to space, no doubt thinking about one of his many lovers he had left back on shore.
Eiri was in no mood to hear Tohma speak so he continued up a pair of stairs to the helm and just admired the view from a higher point. The captain took no mind of him nor did Eiri acknowledge his presence.
While looking out over the ocean he noticed a small black dot drifting out on the horizon. Leaning forward and squinting he heard a yell from the crow's nest acknowledging he wasn't just seeing things.
It took the little black speck a good twenty minutes to finally come within range to make out what it was. It seemed to be a ship no bigger than the four guarding the one Eiri was currently perched on. As it grew closer Eiri saw something glint in the sun and he swore what he saw was pink.
Lowering the telescope Shuichi had an almost scarily gigantic smile plastered to his face.
Hiro, still feeling reluctant walked up to his captain, "Captain, which ship do you want to storm?"
Shuichi bounced up and down in excitement and pointed at the fleet that was steadily growing closer. "I want the big one!"
Hiro's mouth dropped for the second time that day. "You… you want the flagship? But Shu that's the most heavily armed and well guarded of the five vessels. Surely it would be wiser to take one of the-" He was cut off.
"No Hiro." Shuichi had lost his happy bounce and was now mentally preparing himself for the job ahead. "I want the flagship. It's most heavily armed and the most well guarded of the five, therefore it will have the best booty. I want it, and I am going to get it." The determination in his captain's voice made Hiro admit defeat and continue to steer the ship toward what he thought would be there demise.
Shuichi, noticing his friend finally submit, turned back to continue to watch his victims from afar. Smiling to himself he had a wonderful feeling about today.
Eiri on the other side of the expanse of water separating the fleet from the other mysterious ship was anxious. This is the moment the sun warned him about. His life would change here and now. It frightened him a little bit, but he was also overflowing with anticipation. He could hear Tohma's voice from behind him voicing his concern to the captain, he heard the captain reassure the other, shorter blonde that it was probably just a trade ship from a smaller trade company.
Once the ships have come within site range of each other…
"Captain they have raised the friendly flag." Shuichi grinned; it was going exactly as he had wanted.
"Give it few minutes before raising our friendly flag." Then after a pause and an excited jump Shu said, "Then when we get right on them raise the Jolly Roger underneath the friendly." Sure it was dishonest but hey! They are pirates. If they can't be at least a little bit dishonest then who could?
Hiro nodded in acknowledgement and turned to ready the friendly flag. They had used this tactic before, usually on larger ships. Upon seeing the friendly flag they would lower their guard and relax until they noticed Bad Luck heading straight for them then it would already be too late. Cannons would cripple the unsuspecting vessel and men would jump aboard brandishing swords and guns alike. It never failed.
When the mystery ship had raised their friendly flag the captain once again reassured the nervous Tohma and continued to steer.
But within minutes every one on board noticed the ship slowing down and its course was not changing. It was heading right for them! Eiri began to step away form the railing.
Tohma stepped toward the railing squinting at the ship that was close… too close to them. His eyes widened when his saw a bright faced and pink haired man waving at him from the opposing ship. 'Oh shit!' Tohma had heard about a fierce pirate captain that traveled these waters; a captain with pink hair and violet eyes.